BOSTON (Reuters) - Maine lawmakers on Thursday became the
first in the nation to demand repeal of a federal law
tightening identification requirements for drivers' licenses, a
post-September 11 security measure that states say will cost
them billions of dollars to administer.

Maine lawmakers passed a resolution urging repeal of the
Real ID Act, which would create a national digital
identification system by 2008. The lawmakers said it would cost
Maine about $185 million, fail to boost security and put people
at greater risk of identity theft.

Maine's resolution is the strongest stand yet by a state
against the law, which Congress passed in May 2004 and gave
states three years to implement. Similar repeal measures are
pending in eight other states.

"We cannot be spending millions of state dollars on an
initiative that does more harm to our state than good," said
Maine's House Majority leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat, in a
statement that called it a "massive unfunded federal mandate."

The ID act sets national standards for licenses which will
have to include a digital photo, anti-counterfeiting features
and machine-readable technology.

States will have to verify documents presented with license
applications such as birth certificates, Social Security cards
and utility bills, and will have to link their license
databases so they can all be accessed as a single network.

States also will have to verify that a person applying for
a license is in the country legally. States will be able to
issue separate credentials to illegal aliens so that they will
still be able to drive.

The National Governors Association, the National Conference
of State Legislatures and the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators said in a September report that the law
would cost states more than $11 billion over five years and
take at least another seven years to implement.

"It's a national ID card on steroids," said Barry
Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's
Technology and Liberty Project. "This will indeed be a real
nightmare.

But backers say the driver's license -- a primary means of
identification in the United States -- is fundamentally
insecure because of widespread identity theft.

Some 227 million people hold drivers' licenses or identity
cards given out by states, which issue or renew about 70
million each year.